by Lori Foster
On the tail of that realization came another, more startling one. Good God, was there a chance his daughter would grow up to be like Wynn? Wrestling in her yard, argumentative and loud and far too bold? The very idea made him shudder. He had to find a wife, a nice delicate feminine wife who adored Dani and could, with patience and a calm quiet demeanor, guide her into being a young lady.
“If you work fifty hours,” Wynn said, breaking into his thoughts, “I imagine some of those nights it’s pretty late when you get home.”
“True.”
“Do you bring Dani home?”
“Of course.” He started to look at her, but she stilled him by working a particularly achy knot in his right deltoid. Damn, but she had wonderful fingers. “I was blessed with a real slughead for a daughter,” he told her around a heartfelt groan. “It takes a lot to wake her before she’s ready to wake. I just bundle her up and bring her home and tuck her into her own bed.”
“If Eloise is in her seventies, how much longer do you think she can continue to baby-sit?”
“I’ve considered that,” he murmured, his reserve now as limp as his muscles. “I’m thinking of leaving fieldwork.”
“Yeah? To do what?” Her fingers found just the right amount of pressure, and he groaned low before he could work up the energy to answer. “Maybe be a supervisor,” he said, “or an operations manager. Or maybe I’ll instruct. I think I’d like that.”
Wynn made a sound of interest, and her hands moved lower, over his gluteus medius, then his gluteus maximus…
Damn, but her fingers were magic…marvelous… intimate!
Zack jerked around to face her. “You’re seducing me!”
She tried for an innocent expression and failed. “Naw, just copping a feel of your nice tight buns.”
He sputtered, both outraged and stupidly complimented, and, if he was honest, vaguely turned on. Okay, more than vaguely. He felt mellow and ready. Primed even.
She had the gall to laugh in his face, then pat his chest. “Relax Zack, your virtue is safe with me. And you do feel better now, right?”
He flexed, rolled his shoulders in experimentation; she was right, damn her. He gave a reluctant nod.
“Good.” She patted him again, this time ending with a caress of his pecs. “If you tighten up again, come see me.”
He was tight already, just not where she meant.
“It probably wouldn’t hurt to use a little ultrasound on the affected muscles, and I can do that at the gym.”
“I’ll be fine,” he croaked.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re a regular superhero, aren’t you? Impervious to the needs of your body, both sexual and physical?”
Being pushy probably came naturally to her. She’d likely been born making demands and causing conflicts. “I’m trying to do what’s right for both of us and you know it. We’re neighbors. Anything beyond a friendly association would be too difficult.”
She gave a heavy sigh, saying, “Whatever,” and turned to leave.
“I hope you understand,” Zack called out, watching her as she walked into the light from her back porch. His body felt relaxed but zinging with life, too. An odd mix. A carnal mix.
She sent him an airy wave without looking back. A second later she went through the door and it closed with a click that echoed around the empty yards.
Damn irritating woman.
He’d made the right decision, despite his still raging hard-on. But then why did he feel so pissed off with himself? Why did he hate the right decision?
An upstairs light came on in her house, and through an open window Zack heard her begin to whistle again. She was a woman without a care, while he still stood there in the yard churning with a riot of emotions and physical needs. He stared at her window hard, willing her to move into view, but then the light went out and he knew she had gone to bed.
From now on, he’d just have to be very careful to avoid her. Given his hours, that’s shouldn’t be too hard to do.
WYNN WATCHED through her dark bedroom window as Zack tipped back his head and stared up at the moon. He looked so rigid, every line of his body denoting frustration, that she half expected him to howl, but all he did was turn on his heel and head back to his own house.
Her massage had been a waste, she could see that now; the man was determined to be tense. She sighed.
What a twist of fate, she thought, her heart sinking a little at the sight of his retreating back. Her hands were still tingling from touching him, from feeling all those smooth hard muscles and hot skin and vibrating tension. She huffed. The first man who really pushed her buttons, who made her feel like gelatin on the inside and made her breathe too fast just being near, and he was a blasted prude.
Her thought process crashed there and she was forced to face the possibility that he wasn’t a prude at all. A man as big and sexy and intelligent and responsible as Zack was more likely suffering disinterest than moral restrictions.
Why would he be interested in her?
She’d done nothing but make a fool of herself since meeting him, and her naturally forceful personality had been in rare, suffocating form. But he brought out the extremes in her, and half the time she didn’t even know what she was going to do until she did it.
She closed her eyes on a wave of remorse and embarrassment. God, she’d accosted him at every turn, provoked him and even rolled on the grass with him. She’d called him names and insulted him, and here she was, wishing he’d want her just a little?
Wynn shook her head. She was a complete and utter dolt.
She left the window and moved blindly toward the hall. She needed another shower—this one preferably ice-cold to chase away the lingering hunger. She knew she wouldn’t sleep tonight, not after feeling him atop her, not after inhaling his aroused scent.
She had to get herself together, and she had to give the man some space. Rushing him was not the best tactic. No, Zack was a subtle man, when he wasn’t challenging her. He was a father, and his sensitivity toward his daughter only made him more attractive. He was the hero Dani had described him as being, and by far the most appealing male Wynn had ever met.
Zack needed time to get used to her, to get to know her.
She’d ease her way in, she’d be charming and sweet and polite…because knocking down his defenses sure didn’t seem to be working.
6
ZACK SAW HER every damn day. He woke up in the morning and she was outside working in the yard or cleaning her driveway or chatting with the other neighbors.
He got home from work and she’d just be coming in or going out.
He ran into her at the grocery store and once while they were both taking out their garbage. Dani chatted her up every time, like she was a long-lost and valuable friend. And Wynn was forever sweet and attentive—to Dani.
It irked him, especially since she lounged in that hammock every damn night. Before bed, he’d find himself standing at his window, watching for her like a lost soul. And sure enough, she’d come traipsing out, her long legs bare and her stride sure to the point of being almost mannish. Not that anyone would ever mistake Wynn Lane for a man. She was too curvy, too soft and…she smelled too good to be male.
His whole body would go taut watching her as she relaxed back in that hammock and stretched out the length of her sexy body. Damn if he didn’t get aroused every time.
Sometimes she read until the sun went down. Sometimes she just swayed, music feeding into her ears through a set of headphones. She sometimes dozed and she sometimes whistled, but not once had she fallen into a sound sleep again.
He almost wished she would, so he’d have a legitimate excuse to seek her out, to touch her.
She no longer intruded. In fact, she seemed to have lost interest in him. Always she’d be cordial, give a wave or a friendly hello, and then she’d move on. She treated him the same as she did the other neighbors, and he didn’t like it.
He’d never known himself to be such a fickle bastard bef
ore. But he missed her. He barely knew her and already he’d grown accustomed to her.
As had Dani.
Even now his daughter sat on the kitchen door stoop, wistfully staring at Wynn’s house, waiting for her to appear. Dani missed her. She wasn’t at all appeased by the short friendly chats or casual waves, and that wasn’t something Zack had counted on.
It tore his heart out.
“Dani,” he called, “come on in and eat your sandwich.”
Two seconds later Dani peered in the door. “I’m gonna eat it out here.”
Normally Zack would have been fine with that, but he didn’t want his daughter turning melancholy. “Dani…”
“Wynn’ll need a sandwich, too.”
Zack went still and a strange emotion, one he refused to study too closely, swirled through him. “Is she out there?”
“She’s with a bunch of big men.”
Before his brain and feet could make a connection, Zack found himself at the door looking out. Sure enough, there was Wynn, surrounded by bodybuilders—three of them. All massive, all handsome.
All fawning over her.
He scowled, thinking to duck back inside before she or her cursed boyfriends spotted him.
His traitorous daughter did him in once again.
Dani took two bounding steps down the stoop to the lawn and waved her arms like a windmill. “Hey Wynn!”
Wynn looked up and her seven-watt smile shone brightly. She patted one of the guys on the chest, swatted at another’s immense back and started in Dani’s direction. Zack couldn’t deny the pounding of his heart. It had been a week since he’d really talked to her, really been close to her. Deny it all he liked, he’d missed her. Maybe even more than his daughter had.
Dani shocked him by rushing to Wynn for a hug.
Wynn didn’t shock him a bit when she bent down and scooped Dani high, tossing her in the air and then hugging her close. “What have you been up to munchkin?”
“You can eat peanut butter and jelly with me!”
Wynn glanced at Zack, saw the paper plate with the neatly sliced sandwich that he held in his hand, and said, “I love peanut butter and jelly. You don’t mind sharing?”
“Nope.”
When Wynn sat Dani down, she took her hand and stood staring at Zack. He cleared his throat. “How’ve you been, Wynn?”
“Busy. My folks are moving in tomorrow. I had to get everything put away and organized so they’d have a place to store their stuff. This moving on top of my moving is exhausting.”
She snagged the sandwich, handed half to Dani and took a big bite of the other half. “Mmmm. Delicious.”
Zack ignored that to ask, “Who are your guests?”
She gave a negligent shrug. “Guys from the gym. They wanted to see my new house and visit. They’re also going to help me set up my patio furniture. I bought a picnic table with an umbrella and a glider and chairs and tables. I’ve got some plants, too. I can’t wait to see it all together. The delivery truck should be here soon.”
“It takes three giants to set up lawn furniture?”
Her eyes sparkled at the acrimony in his tone. Hell, he’d sounded almost…jealous.
Enunciating each word carefully she said, “They wanted to see my new house, too.” Then she added, “You do have a problem listening to me, don’t you? Or rather, you only hear certain selective parts.”
Dani said, “I’ll help, too.”
“I dunno.” Wynn pretended to study her. “I need strong laborers. Let’s see your muscle.”
Dani immediately flexed her skinny arm. She tucked in her chin and puffed out her cheeks and ground her teeth, with no visible effect.
Still, Wynn made approving sounds and squeezed the non-existent muscle. “Wow. All right, I think you’re strong enough.” She glanced at Zack. “That is, if your dad doesn’t mind.”
“He don’t mind.”
“Dani.” She had jelly on her upper lip and a pleading look in her big blue eyes. He meant to reprimand her further, but she looked so cute…
“Please,” Dani begged in her most hopeful tone.
Wynn chuckled at her theatrics, then leaned toward Zack, her hands clasped together now that she’d finished her half of the sandwich. Mimicking his daughter to a tee, she pleaded. “Pretty please, Zack. C’mon. We’ll be careful. And I promise to watch her real close.”
Zack eyed Wynn. She wore a baggy gray T-shirt today with denim cutoffs. She was barefoot, her frizzy flyaway hair in a ponytail on the very top of her head resembling a frazzled water fountain.
In a different way, a funny way, she was the most appealing woman he’d ever seen.
He gave up without a grumble and denied, even to himself, that he was using his daughter’s wishes as an excuse. Dani wanted to be with her, so he’d allow it. But as her father it was necessary that he be there. That sounded plenty logical to him. “All right. But I’ll help, too.”
Wynn drew back. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I go where my daughter goes,” he told her, letting her assume he didn’t entirely trust her or her friends. She scowled in reaction, narrowing her beautiful eyes until they glittered golden with ire. He just grinned at her. Provoking her was way too easy.
“Fine.” Then she said, “But you have to pass the muscle test, too.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Hey, you’re the one insisting. And fair’s fair. Dani took the test.”
Dani bounced. “Show her your muscles, Dad!”
“Yeah, show me, Dad,” Wynn prodded, and Zack had the horrible suspicion that his neck had turned red.
Through his teeth, he said, “I promise, I’m strong enough.”
Wynn shook her head. “Not good enough. I can see the muscles on my friends, and Dani proved herself.” Her eyebrows lifted and her smile turned smug. “Now show me your stuff.”
Zack knew he was in good shape. He had to attend daily workouts as part of his regimen for the station. He ate healthy food and his job was demanding, both mentally and physically.
But he wasn’t in the habit of flaunting himself.
Wynn shoved his short sleeve up over his shoulder and said softly, “I promise this won’t hurt a bit.” She caught his wrist, locked her eyes with his, bent his arm at the elbow, and said, “Now flex.”
Tightening his jaw in annoyance, Zack dutifully flexed. His biceps bulged. His arms weren’t enormous like the body builders’, but still plenty defined and impressive if he did say so himself.
Wynn’s gaze softened and her eyes darkened. The hand holding his trembled. “Nice,” she murmured in a voice that was far too intimate. “You just might do.”
Dani went on tiptoe to point at Zack’s upper arm. “There’s where Dad got shot.”
“Shot?”
Wynn started to look more closely, but Zack pulled away and jerked down his sleeve.
In that instant the delivery truck arrived and began backing into Wynn’s driveway. After a long look at Zack, which promised the topic was far from finished, she turned to face the men who were milling around her yard. They appeared to be checking out every blade of grass and especially the hammock. To Zack, they looked like concrete blocks with legs.
“The truck is here,” Wynn called out to them. “The payment is in on my hall table. Will one of you go grab it and sign for the stuff? I’ll be there in just a minute.”
Almost as an entity, they nodded agreement and began a pilgrimage to the front of the house. Wynn turned back to Zack. “Is there a swallow of milk to go with the sandwich? I swear that peanut butter is hung up right about here.” She pointed between her breasts, well hidden beneath the gray cotton shirt, but Zack still went mute.
Luckily, his daughter played the perfect hostess. “We always have milk. Come on.” She took Wynn’s hand and led her into the kitchen. Zack was forced to follow.
“You need to regulate your eating habits better,” he grumbled.
She slanted him a look as he to
ok a tall glass from the cabinet. “Do I look malnourished? Vitamin deficient?”
Since she was tall and strong and healthy, Zack ignored that question. He filled the glass to the top and handed it to her. “And I can’t believe you’re letting those men sign for your belongings. Or go through your house unchaperoned.”
She’d already guzzled down half the milk when his words registered. With the glass tilted to her mouth, her gaze captured his and she blinked. Very slowly she lowered the empty glass and set it aside. She licked her lips. Two seconds passed before she said, “Marc and Clint and Bo are good friends. And they can be trusted.”
Dani hovered near the door, watching the men. “They sure are big.”
With an evil smile, Zack said, “Wynn evidently likes them that way.”
Her smile was no less taunting as she leaned close and breathed into his ear, “But I wasn’t in my backyard, on the ground, making out with any of them. Ever.” Then she straightened and asked, “How’d you get shot?”
“By bein’ a hero,” Dani said, still with her head out the door.
Wynn turned to Zack. “Gunfire?”
How she managed to pack so much horror into one small word was beyond him. She acted as though the idea was ludicrous, as if he wasn’t man enough… Deciding to nip that thought, and this conversation in the bud, Zack grabbed her arm and put his hand on his daughter’s narrow back, urging them both forward. “If we’re going to help we better get to it. No more time for gabbing.”
Dani skipped ahead. “What should I do?”
“I have some new baby plants that need extra special care until I get them in the ground,” Wynn told her. “You can move them from the back porch under the overhang to the yard so the men can set up the furniture without trampling them. I trust you more than I do all these big lugs.”
Dani took off like a shot and Zack yelled, “Be very careful, Dani, and don’t get in anyone’s way.”
Dani was no sooner out of hearing when Wynn asked again, “How’d you get shot?”
